On the Water
(Paperback, Main)
Publishing Details
On the Water
By (Author) On the Water Hans van den Brink
Translated by Paul Vincent
Faber & Faber
Faber & Faber
1st July 2005
14th January 2002
Main
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Fiction
839.3164
Short-listed for Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2002
Physical Properties
Paperback
144
Width 125mm, Height 196mm, Spine 8mm
106g
Description
Two young oarsmen are trained as a coxless pair by a mysterious German coach in the golden summer of pre-war Amsterdam. Through the pressure and rapture of physical exertion, teamwork and victory, Anton the shy outsider and calmly self-confident David forge an intense relationship. But on the wintry eve of Holland's liberation, Anton stands on the bank of his beloved river and mourns a lost world: David has disappeared during the Nazi occupation and the boathouse is now derelict and deserted.
Reviews
'Rarely have sport and literature combined so seamlessly to produce such a small miracle of a book'. Daniel Topolski, Guardian
